Product Description

MGM/UA, Region, 2 1990 122 mins

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4179 in DVD
• Brand: MGM HOME ENTERTAINMENT
• Released on: 2002-04-29
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 - 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, Russian
• Subtitled in: French, Italian, Finnish, Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 124 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Intelligent casting, strong performances and the persuasive chemistry between Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer prove the virtues in director Fred Schepisi's well-intended but problematic screen realization of this John Le Carré espionage thriller. At its best, The Russia House depicts the bittersweet nuances of the pivotal affair between a weary, alcoholic London publisher (Connery) and the mysterious Russian beauty (Pfeiffer) who sends him a fateful manuscript exposing the weaknesses beneath Soviet defence technology. Connery's Barley is a gritty, all-too-human figure who's palpably revived by his awakening feelings for Pfeiffer's wan, vulnerable Katya, whose own reciprocal emotions are equally convincing. Together, they weave a poignant romantic duet.

The problems, meanwhile, emanate from the story line that brings these opposites together. Le Carré's novels are absorbing but typically internal odysseys that seldom offer the level of straightforward action or simple arcs of plot that the big screen thrives on. For The Russia House, written as glasnost eclipsed the cold war's overt rivalries, Le Carré means to measure how old adversaries must calibrate their battle to a more subtle, subdued match of wits. Barley himself becomes enmeshed in the mystery of the manuscript because British intelligence chooses to use him as cat's paw rather than become directly involved. Such subtlety may be a more realistic take on the spy games of the recent past but it makes for an often tedious, talky alternative to taut heroics that Connery codified in his most celebrated early espionage role.

If the suspense thus suffers, we're still left with an affecting love story, as well as some convincing sniping between British and US intelligence operatives, beautifully cast with James Fox, Roy Scheider and John Mahoney. Veteran playwright Tom Stoppard brings considerable style to the dialogue, without solving the problem of giving us more than those verbal exchanges to sustain dramatic interest. --Sam Sutherland

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:
Original theatrical trailer.
Interactive menu screens and chapter search.

From the Back Cover
A filmmaking tour de force and incredibly sophisticated, suspenseful and sexy entertainment, The Russia House stars Oscar winner Sean Connery* and Oscar nominee Michelle Pfeiffer** as two people caught in a web of spies and politics , whose love could prove fatal to them both.

When Katya (Pfeiffer), a beautiful Russian book editor, attempts to send British publisher Barley Blair (Connery) a manuscript written by a noted Soviet scientist, she unwittingly draws them both into a world of international espionage. The manuscript, which contains information that could alter the balance of world power, is intercepted by the West's spy-masters who then send Blair to Russia to gain more information on the mysterious document. But when Blair meets Katya, he finds himself torn between his mistress and the woman whose passion for her country - and for Blair - knows no bounds.

* Supporting Actor, The Untouchables, 1987.

** Supporting Actress, Dangerous Liaisons, 1988.
Actress, The Fabulous Baker Boys, 1989.
Actress, Love Field, 1992.